She looked at him. ‘Do you think you’re ever going to win the war on drugs? Are you ever going to be able to stop the suppliers?’

‘I don’t think so.’ He shook his head. ‘I didn’t tell you about the kid we stopped in Newham, fourteen years old, acting suspicious. He had a knife on him and nine wraps of heroin. When we nicked him, I said, “Shouldn’t you be in school, why are you doing this?” He just smiled at me and said, “I make two grand a week – that’s more than you make.”’ Roy shrugged. ‘How do I argue against that?’

Cleo smiled. She had no answer.

‘Can I get you anything to drink?’

She pointed at a mug on the table. ‘I’m sipping my infusion. My pregnancy special!’

‘Nice?’

She screwed up her face. ‘It smells like molten tarmac and tastes like mildew.’

‘Sounds like it could catch on.’

‘It has – either very clever online marketing, or there are millions of pregnant women out there on social media who have different taste buds to mine.’

‘Maybe your taste buds got altered by your pregnancy – that happened with you before.’ He walked over, picked up the brew and sniffed it.

‘Yeccccch!’ He put the mug straight back down. ‘That is vile.’

‘I’m taking it for the team.’

‘Our baby had better damned well appreciate it!’

‘I’ll be reminding him – or her – for the rest of its life.’

Humphrey trotted into the room and over to Roy.

He patted the dog. ‘OK, boy, in a little while, I’ll take you for a nice walk. Yeah, you want to go walkies?’ Normally, Humphrey would have been jumping and pestering, but instead he sloped off under the table.

‘Well, that’s just weird, isn’t it?’

‘What, Roy?’

‘I said the magic walkies word and Humph has taken himself off under the table. Look at him just lying there obsessively cleaning his feet!’

‘Maybe he’s embarrassed because I really told him off earlier – he was growling at Noah. He’s probably gone under there in shame.’

‘Growling? He’s normally a big softy. What’s happened?’

She shrugged. ‘Perhaps he knows there’s going to be another baby in the house and is getting jealous. I hope Bruno hasn’t been teasing him. I often see him winding him up, maybe that’s it?’

‘Bruno? Bruno is great with him. Don’t start thinking bad of him. It’s one of his positive traits.’

‘All I’m saying is we’ll need to keep a very close eye on the dog when he’s with Noah and the new arrival. If he shows any aggression—’ Cleo held back from saying something she might regret.